Water-closet.



F. A. SUHOSSOW.

WATER CLOSET.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN.31, 1910.

Patented Nov. 14,1911.

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WATER CLOSET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31,1910. 1,008,737. Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

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F. A. SGHOSSOW.

WATER CLOSET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.31, 1910.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911 4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

' F. A. SCI-IOSSOW.

WATER CLOSET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.31,1910.

1,008,737. Patented Now-14,1911.

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O 0 f. B Q o '9, 2 (7 w abliovnw FREDERICK .A. SGI-IQSSOW, OF DETROIT,MICHIGAN.

WATER-CLOSET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14:, 1911.

Application filed January 31, 1910. Serial No. 540,976.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK A. Sonossow, citizen of the United States,residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented acertain new and useful improvement in Water-Closets, and declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and. exact description of the same, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in water closets in which theoutlet of the flushing tank valve is automatically operated uponreleasing the closet seat.

One object of the invention is to provide means whereby the outlet valvecannot be repeatedly opened or closed by manipulating the seat orcontrolling lever until after the tank has first discharged its contentsand again filled.

Another object is to adapt the means for connection with any type ofhigh or low-down tank outlet valve,such as the gooseneck or cone siphonvalve,-or valves of the ball float type.

Another object is to provide means for maintaining the trippingmechanism in engagement with the outlet valve lever until suflicientwater has passed to insure the siphoning of the remainder of thecontents of the tank before the outlet valve returns to its seat.

Another object is to provide means whereby the mechanism may be adjustedto provide for the passage of any desired amount of water before theoutlet or starting valve returns to its seat.

Another object is to insure against the outlet valve being held openindefinitely and to avoid the delicate adjustment of the parts orfrequent re-adjustment of the tripping lever as is often required bydevices now in use.

Other advantages and improvements will hereafter appear.

In the drawings accompanying this specification: Figure 1 is a verticallongitudinal section through the tank as it appears when filled withwater, the mechanism controlling the water being in normal condition,aswhen the seat is elevated,-the latter however, not being shown in thisor the three following views. Fig. 2 is a similar sectional view of thetank, the trip-float mecha nism being elevated, (the result of manuallylowering the seat,) ready to engage the outlet valve lever. Fig. 8 is alike sectional view of the tank, showing the position of the outletvalve and the tripping mochatripping mechanism and the inlet valve opento again fill the tank with water to the altitude shown. Fig. 5 is aside elevation of a closet with tank connected, (with parts in section,)showing in dotted lines the relative respective positions of the seatand its controlling weight as the seat gradually assumes a verticalposition when released. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the closet and tankshown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a detail view of the seat weight and aportion of the seat connecting lever in side elevation. Fig. 8 is asectional view through the weight on line 8-8 of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is alongitudinal sectional view of the tank showing the tripping mechanismadapted to actuate a return bend siphon valve. 7

Referring to the letters of reference placed upon the drawings: Adenotes the tank, B the water inlet pipe, B the ballcock controlling theadmission of water to the tank.

C indicates the discharge pipe, C a valve controlling the delivery ofwater from the tank to the closet through the discharge.

pipe and as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, consists of a disk a secured to thebottom of the open water bucket 0, provided with a cover 0 to keep outsolid matter that might otherwise settle therein.

D is a lever pivoted at cl to a projecting arm E carried by the tubularstandard E rising from the bottom of the tank.

d is a weight mounted on the free end of the lever D.

d is an extension arm secured to the end of the lever for manuallyoperating it. At the opposite end of the lever D is a depending leg d towhich is secured an arm D to one end of which is engaged the valve rod Din turn linked to the discharge valve G.

E is a lift rod sleeved in the tubular standard E, its lower endprojecting through the bottom of the tank and to which is secured asuitable weight E Mounted upon the upper end of the lift rod E is an armE to which is pivoted a swinging latch F adapted to engage the free end(i of the arm D. Projecting from the lower end of the latch F is a rod Fupon which is mounted a weight f, and at its end is a ball-float F Theweight f being provided to'insure a certain release of the latch F fromthe free end of the arm D, as will be hereafter explained. Secured tothe lift rod directly below the arm E is a casting G adapted to enter asleeve G mounted on the upper end of the standard E.

g is a'groove formed in the casting G and g is a projecting guide pin inthe sleeve G designed to enter the groove 9 to prevent the rotation ofthe lift rod E within the tubular standard, thereby assisting in itsproper operation.

9 is a rubber gasket carried by the lift rod below the washer g mountedthereon, the purpose of which is to deaden the jar that would otherwiseresult from the clownward movement of the rod.

H is a pipe leading from the ball-cock B into the overflow pipe I inturn connected with the discharge pipe C,the purpose of which is tosupply the after flow or water seal following the flushing of thecloset.

Secured to the lift rod E below the tank is a casting 6 havingprojecting arms 6 engaged by the forked arm J pivoted on the pintle 7aof the seat hinge K.

L is the seat to which one of the members of the hinge K is attached andM is the closet bowl to which the other member of the hinge is engaged.The forked arm J is provided with a downwardly projecting portion havinga relatively flat surface j adjacent with the end of the seat adapted toabut with a correspondingly flat surface on the seat member of the hingeK; the object being to cause the arm J to tilt on the hinge pintle 76when the seat is lowered thereby raising the rod E. Upon thus liftingthe rod E the notch f of the swinging latch F is raised above the freeend 6Z4 of the arm D (see Fig. 2) the action of the ballfioat F? causingthe latch F to swing into position to engage the arm D upon thereleaseof the seat L from its lowered position.

N is an arm secured to the seat projecting toward the tank A. Suspendedfrom theend of the arm N is a weight P. The weight P is provided with anopening at its upper .end in which is set a disk P formed with a channelp in its periphery to receive the projecting ends of the set screws 79supported in the encircling wall of the weight P, whereby the weight issecured against lateral displacement while being free to turn upon thedisk. The disk P is provided with a central aperture to receive the boltP by which it is supported upon the arm N and upon which the disk isfree to turn under certain conditions hereafter explained.

Formed on one face of the disk are ratchet teeth 20 adapted to beengaged by the weighted pawl P carried by the arm N.

Having indicated the several parts by reference characters, theconstruction and operation of the apparatus will be readily understood.It has been previously indicated that Fig. 1 of the drawings shows thecontrolling mechanism in its normal posi tion, the tank filled withwater ready for flushing as when the seat (not shown) is elevated; whilethe three following figures disclose the successive steps or the cycleof operations automatically performed by the mechanism to discharge thewater from the tank for flushing the closet directly following its use,and to again refill the tank. When the seat is elevated the lift rod Eis in its lowermost position, (due to the action of the weight E ),thisposition of the lift rod results in the notch of the swinging latch F ofthe tripping mechanism being below the plane of the free end of the armD. Upon lowering the seat to a horizontal position the arm J is causedto tilt upon the pintle 7a of-the seat hinge due to the fiat surface 76of the seat member of the hinge abutting with the flat end j of the armJ. This action of the arm J lifts the rod E by means of the forked endof'the arm engaging the projecting arms of the casting e, secured tosaid lift rod. The lift rod being raised the notched portion of theswinging latch F is thus elevated above the free end of the arm Dthereby permitting the latch to swing upon its pivot in the direction ofthe free end of the arm D owing to the action of the float F. Thisplaces the notched portion f of the swinging latch in position to engagethe free end of the arm D when the lift rod is lowered, as clearly shownin Fig. 2. Upon releasing the seat from its horizontal position, theweight P causes the seat to swing to a vertical position, the detailedoperation of which will be hereafter explained. The seat being raised,the weighted lift rod is free to drop to the limit of its movement, thejar being relieved by the gasket 9 near the end of the rod striking thesleeve G on the upper end of the tubular standard. The descending liftrod causes the swinging latch F to engage the free end of the arm D asshown in Fig. 3, thereby lifting the discharge valve C and thuspermitting the water to escape through the pipe C to flush the closet.When the water in the tank falls below the float ,F the combined weightof the float and the weight f serves to swing the latch F out ofengagement with the free end of the arm D leaving the valve O free toreturn to its seat immediately following the dis charge of the waterfrom the tank. It will be readily understood, however, that the waterbucket c on the top of the valve C which serves as a weight to close thevalve, will not operate as such until after the water in the tank hasbeen lowered sulficiently for the water in the bucket to become activeas a weight to overcome the weight cl mounted on the opposite end of thelever D. As soon as this condition prevails the valve C will be seateddue to the weight of the bucket. The ball-cock B being now opened, waterwill be admitted to the tank until it reaches its maximum level therebyreturning the parts to their normal positions as indicated in Fig. 1. Inorder that the seat may gradually assume a vertical position and thusavoid striking the tank case or wall upon its release from a horizontalplane, the weighted pawl P carried by the arm J is provided to engagethe ratchet teeth 29 011 the disk P whereby the weight is forced toswing on the periphery of the disk in lieu of the bolt P ,as it is freeto do when the seat is manually lowered to a horizontal position. Theenlarged bearing surface-thus provided increases the frictionalresistance between the parts resulting in the seat gradually assuming avertical position without tendency to ar or damage the fixtures. As theseat swings toward a vertical position, the pawl engages the ratchet,the friction between the annular wall of the weight and disk keeping theWeight ofi its normal balance (as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig.5) thus retarding its otherwise rapid downward movement, as will beclearly manifest.

In Fig. 9 is shown the tripping mechanism employed to actuate the valveQ, to

' start the operation of the siphon Q of this type of flushing tank, thetripping mechanism being in position to operate the starting valve uponthe seat (not shown) being released from its horizontal position as hasbeen previously explained.

It may now be seen that my improved float-trip mechanism provides acertain means for holding the outlet valve open as long as may bedesired. By fixing the altitude of the float at a point slightly belowthe normal high-level of water in the tank, the trip-float mechanismholds the outlet valve open until the water drops below this level only,but the float may be lowered to a point where it does not release theoutlet valve lever until practically all of the contents of the tank aredischarged. I prefer, however, to place the float at the relativealtitude shown in the drawings (slightly below the normal water level)because with this construction, as soon as the float releases the outletvalve lever, it swings out of engagement therewith and thus prevents thetank from again being flushed by any manipulation of the seat until thetank has discharged its contents and again filled. In my apparatus Iprovide against a common fault heretofore present in this type ofmechanism, it being made to engage the outlet valve during the downstroke of the tripping device in engagement with the outlet valve leverwhich has for this reason been free to again descend to its seat as soonas the tripping device completed its stroke, hence, the outlet valve wasalways apt, if the stroke was made too fast, to bounce or be drawn backto its seat without flushing the closet, it being a well known fact thatat the commencement of flushing there is considerable suction downwarduntil all the air is expelled from below the outlet valve. For thisreason a type of valve such as shown in Fig. 9 could not be used withany degree of certainty, because unless the person using the closetequipped with these former automatic devices was careful not to permitthe tripping device to operate too rapidly, not enough water would passfrom the tank to siphon the remainder of the contents when the outletvalve or starting valve returned to its seat. In my apparatus by merelyaltering the altitude of the tripfloat, the starting Valve can be heldopen while any desired amount of water passes through said startingvalve. I also overcome the delicate adjustment which has heretofore beennecessary with devices of this class, it being essential to so adjustthe tripping device that the outlet valve was lifted to the maximum andyet provide for the tripping means passing out of engagement before thetermination of the stroke, else the outlet valve would be held openindefinitely. It has been the necessity for accomplishing the engagementand release of the outlet valve during the instant of time that thetripping device is operative that has necessitated the accurate primaryadjustment and frequent re-adjustment of the tripping device in thisclass of apparatus. It

will also be seen that in my apparatus that upon the water rising in thetank the tripping device is drawn into close relation with the end ofthe outlet valve lever, in fact the upward movement of the float islimited entirely by coming into close engagement with the end of saidlever ;therefore any slight wear of the tripping mechanism or lever Willhave no efi'ect whatever upon the operation of this device, which thusadjusts itself automatically to any variation that may occur on accountof the parts becoming worn.

While the drawings illustrate an arrangement by which the tank may beflushed either manually or automatically, it is obvious by disengagingthe lever for manual operation this feature may be omitted entirely, orupon removing the trip -float mechanism the tank may be adapted formanual operation only.

In place of a single clutch for the trip this may be a ratchet instead,in order to operate types of valves where it may not'be desirable toopen as wide as those shown in the drawings, or it may be desirable tohave a variation of adjustment in the point of contact with the clutch,or it may be desirable to have the outlet valve open even if the trip isnot raised to its maximum point of travel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a device ofthe character described, a flushing tank, a hinged seat, a valvecontrolling the discharge of water from the tank, a hollow standard inthe tank, a movable weighted rod mounted in the standard and adapted tobe operated by the seat, means connecting the seat with the rod foractuating the latter, and a float-trip mechanism suspended from theupper end of said rod to hold the valve open a predetermined periodafter lowering the rod.

2. In a device of the character described, a flushing tank, a hingedseat, a valve controlling the discharge of water from the tank, a leveradapted to operate said valve, a hand-operated lever having connectionwith the aforesaid lever, a movable weighted rod adapted to be operatedby the seat, a member rigidly secured to one end of said rod, a latchswingingly connected to said rigid member and provided with a notchintermediate its ends for detachable engagement with the valve operatinglever,

and means having connection with said swinging latch and movable withthe latch to engage and disengage the latter from said valve operatinglever, and when in engagement with the latter to hold it in suchposition as to cause the valve to remain open a predetermined periodafter lowering the rod.

3. In a device of the character described, a flushing tank, a hingedseat, a valve controlling the discharge of water from the tank, astandard in the tank, an arm secured to' the standard, .a hand-operatedlever pivoted on said arm, a lever carried by said hand-operated valveto operate the valve, a weighted rod mounted in said standard andadapted to be operated by the seat, means connecting the seat with therod for actuating the latter, and a float-trip mechanism suspended fromthe rod adapted to engage the discharge valve lever to hold the valveopen a predetermined period after lowering the rod.

4. In a device of the character described, a flushing tank, a hingedseat, a valve controlling the discharge of water from the tank, astandard in the tank, an arm secured to the standard, a hand-operatedlever pivoted on said arm, a lever carried by said hand-operated valveto operate the valve, a

-weighted rod mounted in said standard and adapted to be operated by theseat, means connecting the seat with the rod for actuating the latter, amember rigidly secured to said rod, and a float-trip mechanism connectedto said rigid member and including a latch for engagement with thedischarge valve lever to hold the valve open a predetermined periodafter lowering said rod.

5. In a water closet, a flushing tank, a valve controlling the dischargeof water from the flushing tank, a hinged seat, a lever to operate saidvalve, a vertically movable weighted rod adapted to be raised by thelowering of the closet seat, a swinging latch pivoted to an arm carriedby the rod, and a float and weight mounted upon a rod projecting fromsaid latch whereby it may be brought into engagement with the dischargevalve lever for actuating the latter, or disengaged therefrom, subjectto the altitude of the water in the tank.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

FREDERICK A. SOHOSSOVV.

Witnesses:

GRACE E. WVYNKooP, SAMUEL E. THoMAs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. I

